Staff & Board

Aviva Hillenbrand is the Executive Director of Community Education at Minneapolis Public Schools. She has worked in Community Education since 2013. Before that, she spent 15 years in non-profit programming and administration. In high school, Aviva worked for her local Girl Scouts council and Parks & Recreation department. This work ignited a passion for experiential learning and enrichment for people of all ages.

Aviva lives in Plymouth with her three children, husband, and two rabbits. In her free time, Aviva enjoys reading, board games, and has recently taken up embroidery.

Cani Adan has served as the Executive Director of New Roots Midwest Minnesota- North Dakota. He has more than 13 years of experience in Workforce development, Youth and Women Empowerment, and Human Rights. 

Cani has been appointed by the superintendent of Moorhead Area Public Schools ISD #152 as a member of the leadership task force through carrying out interviews, surveys to students and parents, and teachers and recommendations about the general teaching of the school, healthy classroom, strategy, parent teachers’ connections, issues of discrimination and bridging the gap between New Americans parents and the students and the administration.

University of Minnesota, retired

Dr. Dale Blyth is a senior research consultant, collaboration facilitator, and advisor who is a Professor Emeritus in the College of Education & Human Development at the University of Minnesota where he most recently served as the Howland Endowed Chair in Youth Development Leadership and a Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. For 15 years he served as Associate Dean directing the Center for Youth Development. The Center was home to the Minnesota 4-H Program (with over 100 staff and 10,000 volunteers touching 130,000 youth); the Youth Work Institute (focused on professional development for 4,000 youth workers); the Minnesota statewide afterschool network; and applied research and evaluation studies on non formal learning opportunities for youth and the people and places that offer them. Previously he was on the faculty at Ohio State University and Cornell University and served as Director of Research at Search Institute. He has collaborated with international efforts in Europe, particularly Finland, including a joint conference on bridging research and practice, bringing University students to European youth work conference in Helsinki, and hosting a National Afterschool Association international learning exchange. He has led an initiative to advance social & emotional learning in Minnesota, is a national consultant to CASEL and the Forum for Youth Investment, and serves on several community, state and national groups related to social emotional learning, out of school time, assessment, data systems, the youth fields’ workforce, journal publishing, and youth development.

YMCA of the North

Joseph Adamji has a passion and a skill for bridging divides to solve the challenges we face, leveraging our collective resources and surfacing our humanity across sectors. Currently serving as the Senior Director for the Center for Equity and Systems Change at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM), he and his colleagues work to bridge the needs of youth and families with those of employers, community efforts/organizations, educators, and system-level institutions to foster systems change within and beyond the walls of SMM for greater equity, sustainability and results. Adamji began his career as a community organizer and has spent 15 years at SMM, leading youth work in the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center, building and researching a social justice approach to STEM Education (STEM Justice) and creating communities of practice both locally and nationally, within SMM and beyond. He and the three departments within the center work to align conversations and strategies for workforce development, social justice, education reform, and leadership in the 21st century through convening cross-sector groups, professional development, career pathway programs and public engagement. He serves as a field expert for the Collective for Youth Empowerment in STEM & Society at the Afterschool Alliance and on the steering committee for the MN STEM Ecosystem.

University of Minnesota

Kate Walker is an Extension professor and specialist in youth work practice at the University of Minnesota Extension Department of Youth Development. She studies the role that program leaders, staff, and volunteers play in supporting youth development. She also leads professional development programs aimed at supporting and improving youth work practice. In her free time, Kate enjoys travel, camping, and the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Ramsey County

Melissa Fanning has been a dedicated leader at the Duluth Area Family YMCA for over 20 years. Since 2018, she has served as the Community Services Branch Executive Director, overseeing a variety of impactful programs, including community-based initiatives, day camp, out-of-school time programs, Youth in Government, and food access efforts. Melissa is passionate about fostering opportunities for youth and families, ensuring accessible and inclusive programs that strengthen the community.

University of Minnestoa

Sammy is a youth development leader with over 15 years of experience in the education and non profit sectors. She has acted as a classroom teacher, after-school coordinator, and executive director giving her insight into the many facets of youth enrichment programs and nonprofit development. Her passion lies in out-of-school time understanding the enrichment and development that occurs for youth outside of the classroom. Her current role is as Youth Safety and Compliance Manager at the University of Minnesota where she oversees youth program safety work across all five U of M campuses. She finds great joy in being a part of the Ignite community and hopes to continue striving for excellence and youth voice in out-of-school time efforts. She lives in south Minneapolis with her two children, husband, and dog and is currently seeking a master's in Educational Leadership at the University of Minnesota.